Race organisers to give wildcard priority to MPCC members

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The international race organisers’ association, the AIOCC, has agreed to give priority to teams who are members of the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC) when distributing wildcard invitations to events.

The association held its annual general meeting in Paris on Friday, bringing together the organisers of 115 events, including all of the races on the WorldTour calendar.

According to AFP, the AIOCC meeting agreed that MPCC members who apply for wildcard berths at WorldTour events should be given priority.

Founded in 2007, the MPCC imposes stricter anti-doping measures on its members that go beyond the World Anti-Doping Agency Code, including additional testing to combat the use of corticosteroids. Its current members are AG2R La Mondiale, Argos-Shimano, Bretagne-Schuller, Cofidis, Europcar, FDJ, Garmin-Sharp, the Swiss IAM Cycling project, Lotto Belisol, NetApp and Saur Sojasun, while Astana, Bardiani-CSF, La Pomme Marseille have applied for membership in recent weeks.

The AIOCC also expressed the desire to play an active role in the next reforms of the UCI racing calendar, which are planned to be implemented in 2015. “The organisers are the first people to be concerned by the calendar,” AIOCC secretary general Jean-François Pescheux told AFP.

Executive committee member Renzo Oldani, organiser of the Tre Valli Varesine, said that the AIOCC would unveil its plans for the calendar next April. “At the next Liège-Bastogne-Liège, we’ll propose a series of variations to the UCI to make the season of professional races more ‘human,’” Oldani told varesenews.it.

Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme was re-elected as president of the AIOCC for a second four-year term after first taking up the role in 2008. Tour of Luxembourg organiser Eddy Buchette and Volta a Catalunya organiser Ruben Peris have been elected as vice-presidents.

Pescheux and Thierry Gouvenu, each of Tour de France organisers ASO, will serve as secretary general and vice-secretary respectively.